


Beer and Forgiveness

by redfiona



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Episode Tag, M/M, Spoilers, booze
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-06-05
Updated: 2004-06-05
Packaged: 2017-10-07 16:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/67125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redfiona/pseuds/redfiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Truth, drink and subtle suggestions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beer and Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: Smackdown 18/03/2004
> 
> Notes: Slightly AU – after the Benjamin v Haas match, instead of a handshake and a hug, Charlie doesn't forgive Shelton and storms off in anger.

Bradshaw was nursing his tenth beer. Today had been a long day.

Judging by the look on the kid who'd just walked in's face; his hadn't been the only long day. It was one of Angle's boys, the blond one; Bradshaw couldn't remember his name for the life of him. Bradshaw had always been bad with names and the drink wasn't helping any. They were always together anyway, so he'd never had to learn their names properly.

Actually, that was a point, where was the other one?

Hopefully he wasn't lurking around waiting to attack, it was bad form to attack a man who's drinking, it could put him right off his beer. Bradshaw looked around the bar and couldn't see the other one. Even with the roster staying there, by this hour of the night most of them were tucked up in bed so a tall, athletic type would have stood out.

So why was only one of them here, and at this hour too, when good boys like him should have been in bed?

Bradshaw made his way over to where whichever one it was sitting, turning what looked like JD and coke over in his hand.

Bradshaw was vaguely aware that something had gone on with Angle's boys, very vaguely, because he'd started drinking the minute he realised that Ron was indeed completely gone. His mind hid away at the thought and decided to lose itself the quickest way possible. He'd still stayed and watched the show though; aware that there would be questions tomorrow if he didn't, and figuring he'd had enough trouble for one week.

He seemed to remember them being in a match, and whoever won got to face someone and the winner got a shot at the title or something, the details were a little hazy to him. The other one had won, and this one had taken it badly.

If only he could remember his name, even now Bradshaw wasn't quite drunk enough to go up to him and start mouthing off without knowing the man's name. This blond one, he was the quiet one, talked little and smiled even less. Haas, that was it. Charlie seemed to be the name that he'd attached to Haas in his head so Charlie he was going to get called.

"Hey Charlie. What's up?"

"Nothing, can't a man just have a drink?"

"A man can but this man's wondering why a boy like you is having one?"

"No reason, just felt like it."

"Just felt like it. Sounds like a good enough reason." To Charlie's relief it looked like the very drunk Texan was wobbling away. "Of course, the question would have to be why you haven't just felt like it after your other losses?" No such luck.

"I just feel like it. Don't you ever feel like that? Oh yeah, I forgot you feel like that all the time." Haas muttered something about drunken, alcoholic Texans under his breath. Now normally that was fighting talk, but Bradshaw figured that he was already on his last warning from the management and fighting would see him kicked out.

And he really didn't want that. But more than that he didn't want this kid making the same mistakes he had done.

"Yeah, but if it's a problem it's best you sort it out, or it's a waste of good whiskey and better money."

"There's no problem."

Bradshaw took another gulp out of his beer and waved his hand for another. "I thought you were supposed to be clever, kid. Now I never claimed to be, or to be one of these shrink types, but when I see a good kid like yourself who doesn't normally drink, start drinking after a match that he lost, not that that normally starts him drinking, I have to think that there was something different, some problem with this loss. Wonder what it could have been?"

"There wasn't one."

"Yeah, and I'm a monkey's uncle." Bradshaw took a gulp from his beer. "Wouldn't have anything to do with the fight being against the other one would it?"

"Shut up."

"Getting somewhere, am I?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up."

"Make me."

Charlie didn't. Bradshaw took that as an okay for him to sit down. Couldn't really do the man-to-man bit when he was standing up five feet away.

Charlie tried to move away, but Bradshaw put a hand firmly on his thigh and kept him there. When Bradshaw opened his mouth Charlie was nearly knocked over, the man's breath had to be forty percent proof.

"Now I ain't normally the type to interfere..."

"So don't bother this time."

"Let me finish, boy. As I was saying, I don't normally interfere, a man's private life ought to be exactly that and no son of a gun ought to stick his nose in but, at the same time, me being as old in the tooth as I am, I feel it right to stop a man doing the same foolish things that I've done."

"But you've done so many, how can you pick just the one?"

"Don't try and be smart with me kid, I can still beat you black and blue, drunk as I am."

"I'd like to see you try."

"No, you wouldn't. And I'm not likely to, since it'd set the other one after me for revenge."

"Hardly, Shelton doesn't give a damn about me. Doesn't care that we're supposed to be regaining the tag team championship." Charlie realised he'd said just a little too much, enough to let Bradshaw in.

"I wouldn't say that."

"You did see the match, didn't you."

"Yeah so he beat you, so what?"

"It wasn't the loss. It's not like that doesn't happen often enough to us, it's the way he treated me as though I was just a stupid kid. I mean, I know he's supposed to be the better one being Brock's trainer and all, but still, I deserve a little respect."

"See, that's the first mistake you're making. Getting all tangled up because of something that happened out there. Ignore it, or do the same to him next time, it doesn't matter. But once you're out of the ring, forget it. In the long run, what happens outside the ring is more important."

"Says you."

"Says me." Bradshaw took another gulp from his beer. "Plus there's something you've forgotten about?"

"What?" Charlie had been made a fool of on national television, Shelton had enjoyed doing it, what could he have forgotten?

"The lottery, draft, whatever they're calling it." Bradshaw waved his arms about nearly knocking his glass flying.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You two could be split up."

"So what? Sounds like a blessing." He could have strangled Shelton. He should have done.

"Don't be stupid, kid. I know that if you leave it like this and either one of you goes to RAW you'll be regretting it all of your life."

"But what are the chances of us getting split up? It's not going to happen."

"Always plan for the worst."

"It's not as though we'd never see each other again. I mean come on, the two shows cross paths often enough."

"I'll tell you something, last time there was a draft, me and Ron got split up. I saw him once in four months. It ain't a lot of time to work with."

"But, but, but, I mean..." Charlie spluttered into silence. He hadn't even thought of it really, because they weren't going to get split up. They were a tag team, for better or worse they were stuck with each other. But now Bradshaw was sitting here making it sound as though it had a high probability of happening. Shelton really had riled him up this time but the idea of not speaking to him for months... It must have been the alcohol acting because his head started to spin.

"I know that at the moment you only want to hit him from here to Topeka, and in your place so would I, so I'm not expecting you to be happy about it, but don't let him go without talking to him."

"Yeah," Charlie got up and looked distracted, "I don't think the drink is agreeing with me. I'm just going to go back to Shel... the room and sleep it off."

"That's the idea."

Charlie walked out. If the drink was getting to him, his walk sure wasn't showing it. Bradshaw supposed that Charlie didn't want him to think that he'd actually got through to him. But Bradshaw had, and he knew it. It made him glad too. The one good thing about the day. If he could get someone, anyone, to learn from his mistake, that might make him feel better. That he let Ron go without saying anything, without telling him, all the time he'd had he'd wasted. Wasted it trying to get Heyman to change his mind, son of a bitch had a heart of stone and was stubborn as a mule. Bradshaw should have known it wouldn't work. But he didn't so Ron was clear gone from the hotel by the time Bradshaw got back. Lord alone knew what Ron was thinking that Bradshaw was doing during that time; he could be thinking anything about him. He hadn't left a number or nothing so Bradshaw had no way of contacting him. Just to tell him that he hadn't followed him straight out of the building because he thought he could get Ron's job back, that if he'd known he couldn't he would have been out of there like a flash and that he already missed him so much that it hurt right from his head to his toes.

Loving folks ain't easy when they up and leave and don't have a mobile phone.

Bradshaw drank what was left of Charlie's drink, no point in it going to waste. He'd have to sit around and wait, and that only made him depressed because some part of him felt so strongly that Ron wouldn't come back to him no matter what. Right now the drink wasn't blocking that out but maybe with a little more.

"Another beer please."


End file.
